Considering our wildly different body types and pointe-y experience levels, it seems unlikely we’d all have the same feet.
Gentle Reader, what do you think is up with this?
Level of difficulty: all these Bloch EB’s were not purchased from the same fitter, with in the same year, or even from the same store.
???

When I started pointe, I noticed most of my friends (like me) wore the European Balances. I thought it was odd, too, since, as you said, everyone has different feet. I think people might consider them more of a beginner shoe and they are cheaper than the other shoes I see. Maybe that’s why? I wore them for 3 years and then couldn’t stand them and switched to Russian Muse.

Funny. Most flamenco students I know wear “Menkes”, but they are to narrow for my feet. I used to be considered a snob for wearing “Gallardo” (good, but expensive). Now, people think I am crazy, because I only wear “Ainhoa” (an obscure company from Madrid nobody has ever heard about.) You need to order the shoes from Madrid and it takes 4 to 6 weeks till you get them, but they are great for my feet.

I’m in the same boat, I wear EBs as do all but one of my classmates. I think it’s just a really standard noob shoe. Strong shank, wide platform, breaks in without too much drama.
But I am totally going to a different fitter next time, just to see what happens.

Market penetration in your area, I’d guess. Is there an actual Bloch store there or anything? Also, Capezio hasn’t been as nice since they went after the more mass market dancewear and payless kids stuff – they were the big one way back when I danced as a kid.

No actual Bloch store in LA. but lots of carriers. No actual Capezio store either. Now I’m wondering why we don’t have any single brand stores in Los Angeles. They have so many in New York. Conspiracies!

Bloch seems to market them as a good beginner shoe and maybe they truly live up to that? I know I’m definitely partial to Bloch as a company, although I haven’t tried, and would like to try Freed’s at some point. In my class almost no one wears Bloch. The most common here (in Copenhagen) seems to Sansha, and some other unidentified Eastern European shoes. I was fitted in Canada and bought Bloch Jetstreams, which I love, but recently was fitted here in Gaynor’s (which I hate). So back to Bloch I go. I would definitely recommend the Jetstreams to anyone trying shoes, they crave a bit stronger foot, but the padded box is amazing (no ouch pouches necessary)

I think Bloch has shoes to suit most feet! When I was first fitted however, I tried Blochs shoes but they didn’t fit me. They also felt much stiffer than other shoes, and I can never get my arch to show well while wearing them. Despite this, I think all of the other girls in my pointe class wear Bloch, although none of their feet are as arched as mine are. I wore Freeds and I love how these made my arch stand out and they were so comfy, but the box was too light. So when I went to my next fitting I purchased Suffolks, and the box is just right, although the shank could do with some more breaking in to feel right. I think this proves how there’s always a couple of people with completely differently shaped feet!

Yep. It’s a very common shoe… which I think is a TOTAL conspiracy because I don’t like it :-P J/K… It’s not that crazy… In my day (when wild poodles roamed the earth) almost everyone started in Capezio Contempora. You move on to more foot specific shoes when you learn your feet.